Teylon: Still being raked over the coals by his caring Angel of Death

"So, Teylon, I suppose that Angel of Death of yours must have been making you tell the truth like that?" said Francesca.

She was currently finishing off a meal of genuine roast beef. She had been amazed at how expensive it was. All of the girls had been impressed at the restaurant, including that fact that it had private rooms. These rooms were advertised as being sound proofed, and the occupants could turn on a 'Do Not Disturb' sign if they wanted. So, right now, they were ensconced in their own private space, and no one would be interrupting them.

"Yeah, how did you ever guess?" had said, his face looking as sour as the lemon he was currently squeezing over the last bits of his chicken. Also genuine and also very expensive.

A snicker from Francesca.

Tamara and Devina were also finishing off their meals. They had ordered the usual fake meat. As Devina had said:

"I don't know, I can't rid myself of the feeling that it's icky eating the meat of some animal that was actually alive."

"Say, do you intend telling the others about all of that?" said Teylon.

"Of course I am. After all, they are also invested in looking after Juniper. And Kaydence." said Francesca.

Maybe Teylon had put a bit too much lemon onto his chicken, since he still looked sour.

A long silence as they finished off their main meal and the three girls ate their desserts. Teylon had refrained, out of long habit. After all, his genes had not been edited before birth, so his was an eternal battle against getting overweight.

"I must say, it is a pleasure to hear a man committing himself to loving someone. It's not something that I have ever experienced. Of course, in this case, it is a platonic sort of love, but still." said Francesca, "It’s even better when the man in question hasn't experienced it either."

I don't think I'm ever going to hear the end of this.

"Yeah, it's a new experience for me too." said Tamara.

Say, what are their stories, anyway?

"So, you've never had a boyfriend?" he said, looking at Francesca.

"Well now, hmm, actually I did, at the end of my high school days. But, ah, it sort of didn't work out."

She momentarily stroked the disfigured side of her face.

"And I never tried again after that."

There were extremely meaningful looks from two girls and one man. Francesca shook her head from side to side.

"No, no, it's not quite that bad, I didn't kill him or anything. Even if he was a complete bastard."

There were looks of disbelief.

"No, really! I mean, I might have singed him just the slightest, but nothing that a few bandages wouldn't have fixed. Just enough to make my displeasure known. Although I did drop out of school after that. My parents and the school head master were all quite annoyed at me, which I thought was a bit unfair, but, that's life."

Her audience decided that that was all they were going to get this time. So Teylon looked at Tamara.

"So, did you have a fight with a boyfriend also?"

"Like hell! I have never had a boyfriend and doubt I will ever will want one!"

She was hostile, then relented slightly.

"Ah, OK, I didn't get along very well with my dad. Especially when he let my younger sister - "

She hesitated slightly before continuing.

"Let her die because he was pissed out of his brain from one of his regular drinking binges!"

She spat this out with extreme distaste. She took a sip from her drink (some very expensive wine that, frankly, her palate was totally uneducated to appreciate).

She continued, in a more normal tone of voice.

"Not that I like girls, mind you. It's just that men remind me of my father. Although I must admit, associating with Teylon here, and the two boys, has to some degree reminded me that not all men are like that."

"Well, I'm glad to be of service!" said Teylon.

He looked at Devina and received back a high power death glare.

"OK, OK, your dealings with men are your own private matter. Although I do wonder just what did happen..."

Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Devina

An image of Devina crying in shock and horror as her father poked a soldering iron at her arm...

Only, this image was overlaid on Teylon's body. Not only did he see and hear from Devina's point of view, but he also felt the physical sensations that she was. Which, right now, was mostly extreme pain.

"Aaaaagh! Dad, stop that, you're hurting me!"

Teylon:

Teylon actually yelled out these words as Esmeralda kept on feeding him Devina's memories. And Devina's physical sensations. He fell of his chair and writhed on the floor.

"Stop it! Stop it please! It's burning me."

Image after image slammed into his consciousness, incident after incident of Devina getting burnt by her father. One after the other. Unrelenting in the pain they conveyed. Teylon rolled across the floor, crashed into a chair and hit the wall, all the while screaming and writhing in pain. Tamara and Devina just sat there, looks of complete shock and surprise on their faces. Francesca was also just as surprised, but after a few moments, she managed to get her wits together. She jumped out of her chair and managed to catch him as he bounced off the wall. She held his shoulders to stabilize him and to stop him from getting any more bruises by rolling around uncontrollably.

The soul reading stopped as suddenly as it had started.

Teylon gasped and panted and shuddered as he attempted to recover.

"Teylon, what the shit hell was all of that!" said Francesca, "Oh-oh, your face is going green..."

As the direct effects of the pain faded out, the indirect effects of it on his body made themselves felt. Francesca barely managed to get out of range as he vomited all over the floor.

"Ewk! What a waste of a good meal!" said Francesca.

Sobbing from the memory of the pain and the feeling of nausea, he backed away from the wall, and the puddle of vomit, and tried to lever himself up onto his chair. Francesca helped him up, then hastily poured a glass of water and he, with shaking hands, managed to have a drink.

The three girls watched him intently as he struggled to get his feelings under control. By now, Tamara and Devina were also standing.

He staggered to his feet.

"That - that was horrible."

He looked at Devina, who must have been working out what was happening to him. Since she had a look of utter horror on her face.

"Devina, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I didn't realise how bad it must have been, how painful..."

"What - what - what?" said Devina, who was also beginning to shake.

Teylon, still crying, staggered a few more steps, right up to Devina. He held her.

"I got a soul reading of all of your pain. I'm sorry, the pain you felt was so bad."

Devina just stood there, arms limp by her sides, and Teylon held her, her face looking blank.

Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Devina

Another soul reading of Devina, this one being from her point of view in the current time, as Teylon was hugging her.

The strange man was holding her, his face looking distraught; she could smell the vomit on his breath, the sweat on his body. He was shaking, had tears running down his face. He was trying to hug her, but she was long out of practice in receiving hugs.

She was trying to work it out - what were hugs for? Wasn’t it to comfort someone? But, he's a man. Just like her father. Who caused her so much pain. But, but, wasn't he just feeling her pain? Some sort of soul reading thingy? Why was he saying he was sorry?

Teylon:

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't mean to make it worse."

He let her go, stepped back and collapsed into his chair. Devina remained precisely where she was, her face still blank.

A minutes silence.

"Say, Teylon, I take it that you had a vivid rerun of Devina's abuse, again provided by your Angel of Death?" said Francesca.

"Yeah. Oh bloody hell, it was horrible."

"Hmm, she certainly plays a very hard game, I must say."

"Hard? More like brutal. I'm still feeling sick. And Devina, when it all started, why didn't you get help, for God's sake?"

"I did try! I did try! But I was ignored. Or made fun off! Nobody cared about me and just left me! Don't tell me what I should have done!"

Teylon started to reply, but was interrupted by another soul reading.

Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Devina

Devina had waited until her father was out for the day. Then she tried to make a doctor's appointment. Being young and healthy, she did not have a regular doctor, so she had to do an internet search. The trouble was, when she rang the first few clinics recommended in the search list, they were all booked out. Eventually she found a doctor's office, which had a free slot within a few hours.

It was down the side of a series of small industrial units. Devina thought that this was an odd location, but then, maybe he was just starting out and could not get a better position? Also, that would explain why there appeared to be no other patients. The doctor, in the standard white lab coat and holding a stethoscope, showed her into the examination room all by himself.

"So, what appears to be the problem?" he said, with a nice smile and comforting manner.

Struggling to maintain her composure, she said:

"My father is getting increasingly irrational. He's started burning me with his soldering iron, and I really need someone to check up on him and to get him to stop it."

"Ah, and where does he burn you?"

"My shoulders and back mainly."

"Hmm, can I have a look?"

She reluctantly, with much shame, took off her shirt. He looked at her back, gently touching some of the scars.

"Well, that seems clear enough. If you could put your shirt back on."

Devina was beginning to feel a little bit relieved. She was thinking that maybe the shame of telling someone would actually work out and stop the pain. Only, the doctor was no longer looking quite as genial and comforting as he originally did.

"So, I take it you've been having issues with your father, like perhaps disagreements over how long you stay out, that sort of thing?"

"Ah, no, no, he just goes mad after trying to make something and starts burning me!"

"Hmm, about that, do you have any previous history of self-harm? Or maybe eating disorders, stuff like that."

"What! But it's my father that's burning me, why should I do it to myself?"

"Well, it's a common thing to happen, and you certainly match the pattern. Teenage girl having problems with coping at school, starts to transfer her feelings of discomfit and anger to her family, which in your case is your father, starts trying to get her way by acting up, and when it doesn't work, escalates into self-harm and trying to use that as a lever to get what she wants..."

Devina's feelings of shame and anger began building up.

"No! It's nothing like that! Nothing!"

The doctor snorted. Sneering a little, he kept on talking.

"I think it is. You're just trying to manipulate your father in to getting your own way, and when that didn't work you added self-mutilation. You probably tried to blackmail you father with threats of going to a doctor, didn't you? After all, here you are, trying to get me to implicate your father for something he's innocent of. Really, I think such behaviour is despicable. You should go back and apologise to your father for your actions, and try to be a better person."

Devina looked at him in horror, started to say something, but then turned and ran outside. Racked with sobs, she ran unsteadily back out to the main passageway up some stairs to the surface. She eventually ended up in a small park and sat under a tree, with some shrubs partially concealing her.

"But he is burning me. He is! He is! What do I do now?"

She sat there for an hour or so, managing to calm herself down.

Teylon:

Teylon slumped back into his chair.

"Another soul reading, eh, Teylon?" said Francesca.

"Yeah, about Devina trying to get a doctor to do something. Bloody hell! A doctor isn't supposed to act like that! Why didn't you try another doctor!"

"Stop telling me what I should have done, you bastard man!"

Devina had her hands clenched into fists.

"But I'm only trying to help you. And to express some sympathy. After all, I know what you suffered through; didn't you see me screaming in pain?"

Teylon was getting worked up also. He was getting frustrated and angry, and he was still feeling the pain and terror of Devina's suffering.

"I don't need help from a man! I tried with that doctor, and he just laughed at me! It is so shameful to know that I was tortured by my father, and then my feelings were completely disregarded! And cut that crap about you feeling my pain! Even if you really did, you still knew it wasn't going to last and you weren't trapped into a hopeless situation where you couldn't escape!"

"Ah, please, Devina and Teylon, can't we take a few minutes time out from all of this?" said Francesca.

"I mean, you must admit that whatever his faults, Teylon has never harmed or threatened to harm anybody around him. Well, apart from the shits that he 'Judged'. And he even saved your life, right after your attempt to kill him, hmm?"

"I suppose so. Struth, why do I have to be cooped up in a small room with him? The smell of vomit is pervasive; he's got it all over his trousers, he sweating like a pig and looks like he's been in a fight with a heavy weight boxer."

"Oh, ah, sorry." said Teylon.

Francesca laughed. "I agree, he does look a mess. Even if it was caused by experiencing your pain. Let's go back to our accommodation, shall we?"

"But what about this mess?" said Tamara.

She indicated the floor, while screwing up her face in disgust. She had one hand over her nose, as if trying to block out the smell.

Teylon was not feeling the best.

I get the full pain of Devina's abuse, and now I'm responsible for the mess. What the fuck hell did I do to deserve this... Yeah, yeah, don't tell me.

Big sigh.

"I shall just have to tell the management to charge me for the cleaning up."

He got some napkins, wetted them, and brushed off some of his recent meal from his trousers. He then stood up, walked to the door, and started to collapse.

"Whoa there! Here, I can give you a hand." said Francesca, as she propped him up and took some of his weight.

Remember, this was Mars, with only one third of Earth's gravity. So she could easily do this, not to mention she was stronger than the average woman anyway.

The headwaiter momentarily looked aghast at the state of the room, before recovering his normal imperturbable look of haughty supercilious. He graciously accepted Teylon's invitation to charge whatever the management considered appropriate to clean up the mess.

"Very well sir. Are you sure you wouldn't like us to call an ambulance?"

"Nyah, we'll escort him back." said Francesca, "There's no need to worry any further."

Back at their accommodation. Teylon walked in to the combined living and kitchen area, and sat down very heavily at the table. He looked totally exhausted.

"Francesca, can you get me some more water..."

She obliged, then sat down.

Devina didn't look too happy either. Since the other two ladies were also sitting down, she sat down, but at the place furthest from Teylon. Teylon checked the messages on his phone.

"Oh, it looks like everyone else has taken the scenic train trip around the ocean, and are going to stop at the other end for lunch. So it'll be a few hours yet before they all come back."

"Of course, you realise that back on Earth, this would never be called an ocean. More like a lake. And not a particularly big one, either."

"Hey, Teylon, don't be picky! You lot got your oceans for free, while us Martians had to build ours all by ourselves." said Francesca.

Teylon slumped forward and supported his head in his hands.

"Yeah, yeah, I know."

There was a strained, uncomfortable silence, eventually broken by Tamara.

"I've been wondering, exactly why has this Angel of Death, or whatever, been giving you all of Devina's painful memories, anyway?"

"I dunno. Probably to underline the fact that I have to look after Devina also. Or maybe it's all part of my punishment for failing to save Emilia. Or something."

"I don't need looking after by a man!" shouted Devina, "Men are the cause of my problems, not the solution!"

Teylon was about to reply, when he had another soul reading.

Teylon’s Soul Reading of: Devina

Devina had escaped for the day and was wandering around one of the many parks. She was obsessively going over the doctor's visit, and also the many times that she had been burnt.

She felt completely isolated, alone. No one to care for her. She clenched her fists in anger.

But all that did was to give her red marks on her hands where her fingernails had dug in.

As she drifted along, lost in her own little nightmare world, she tripped over the curb.

"Shit, I wasn't looking where I was going, ah..."

She realised she was looking at a food stand. Since it was about lunchtime, she decided to distract herself with some food.

"I'll have a hamburger with cheese and tomato, please." she said to the food stand operator.

However her small uptick in mood was immediately squashed when she tried to pay.

"Insufficient funds." said her wristband.

She just stood there, feeling hopeless, feeling like there was not any point in trying anything. She got her allowances from her father, and obviously, he had not bothered to transfer anything over lately.

"Here, I'll pay for her."

"Huh?" said Devina.

She looked and saw a middle-aged man, nice smile on his face, who was in the act of paying for her food.

"You looked so despondent there, so I thought I would help you out."

They ended up sitting at a park bench a little way out from the food stand. Normally Devina would never socialise with a complete stranger, and a man at that, but the times were not normal for her. Besides which, he was so kind and nice. At first.

"You certainly looked despondent there, you know. So I just had to try to cheer you up."

"Ah, thanks."

"So, if you don't mind saying so, what is preying on your mind?"

Devina, parched for some human kindness, and couldn’t help being moved by his attention.

"I'm, ah, having troubles with my father."

"Well, I suppose we all have had some problems with our parents at one stage or another..."

"No, no, not like that - not normal problems. More like he hurts me. And it's getting worse."

"Hurts you? In what way?"

While saying this, he gently touched her hand with his, as if to comfort her.

However, this did not comfort her at all. In fact, it triggered a feeling of revulsion. It reminded her of her father's touch. She looked at his face while jerking back her hand. Momentarily his expression changed, just for the moment he had the look of someone who has just made a mistake. Then it changed to concern.

"Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to startle you in any way, my apologies."

"Ah, that's OK."

"So, what do you intend doing about your unfortunate situation?"

"I don't know! I tried getting a doctor's opinion, but he just brushed me off. I can't leave his flat, as I don't have any money of my own. And I don't know how to go about getting a job."

"Hmm, so if you had some money you could move out of your father's flat into your own accommodation?"

"I suppose so..."

He looked her over. His expression did not seem so friendly now. Or, maybe, it was an entirely different sort of friendly.

"Actually, you look quite attractive, why not come to my place for a little bit?"

Devina gasped in horror and jerked back so fast she almost fell off the bench. "What?"

"I mean, you need some money, and with a small amount of time you can make it worthwhile for me to give you some."

Devina discovered that one really could feel their skin crawling in revulsion. The man, observing her reaction, continued.

"Now come off it, you don't think I would buy you food just out of kindness, do you? And all of this stuff about your father, that's just a production, isn't it? Obviously you like staying out all hours partying and your father is trying to be strict..."

She did the only thing she had left to do. Dropping her hamburger, she got up and ran.

She spent the rest of the afternoon huddled in some bushes, away from anyone else, crying.